Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Hi Ladies. I'd like to share some of quilt projects our local quilt guild members have been working on. Ingerlise just became a grandmother for the 4th time and her lucky grand-daughter has this beautiful quilt to snuggle up to.

Its easy to see tons of love and care went into making this beauty.

If I remember correct, I sat next to a lovely lady, Karen, who made these lovely winter runners.

I apologize that I didn't get the others names but I know you will enjoy these quilt projects.

Last night was my lucky night. I won two lottery give aways and the guild gave out delightful alphabet fabric with candles to go with the season. Norwegians definitely know how to do cozy.

And here is a picture of my latest quilt top that I am in love-with. Of course, its soo busy that I can't sleep with it hanging in the room. It was monotonous to make but really worth it! I made it on the diagonal with the blocks on point. I do plan to do another one and this time I will foundation piece it and do it vertically.

I am getting very excited for the 15th of Dec. I tried my hand at drafting a small 3" block and giving it a whirl. Not as easy as it looks. I have a whole new appreciation for quilters who do mini quilts.

Here is my first attempt a little scrap house.

With the little scrap houses in mind, I introduced the idea of our guild doing a scrap fabric swap. Fingers crossed lots of ladies come ready to swap at the next meeting.

And its not payday...wait a minute. It IS also payday! Double Happiness! But thats not why its my favorite day. Today is our monthly quilt guild meeting. All month I look forward to seeing what all the other women have been working on and today I'm going to ask how they feel about me taking some pictures of their quilts at Show and Tell. I'm also hoping they will be open to forming a scrap swap for next month's guild meeting for extra variety in my 'Building Houses from Scraps' quilt. For Show and Tell I have just finished the border on a house quilt I have been working on. I was inspired by seeing this quilt from SUPPOSE Quilt Boutique.

These blocks are not small like the one we will be starting on the 15th of Dec but it was loads of fun to put together. Each block has different elements that help your eye move around the quilt more. I paper pieced the border which worked great for minimizing any distortion in the triangles.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

See this link at www.craftgossip.com for the original quilt. The above quilt is my attempt at it. It was so much fun to make! It looks like the original quilt had some south american colorful wovens. I couldn't get my hands on those so I used used the stripey fabrics from my stash.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been intrigued by art quilts. Putting it more accurately, I'd like to be a little more creative with my quilting and for some reason I'm too intimidated by the fussiness of applique to dive in. Susan Carlson's book on fabric collage, Serendipity Quilts: Cutting Loose Fabric Collage , using small scraps fits the bill. This sun quilt is a project she provides in her book to get you started. It measures about 15" square. It took me a few evenings to complete and now I'd like to try one of my own. I'd like to do a fabric collage of these antique portraits with loud and colorful fabric choices. Check back later to see the completed portraits using Susan's technique.
For more information on Susan go to www.susancarlson.com

I've been looking at a lot of art quilts online these days and thought I would give it a try. McCall's Quilting Editors Blog featured a cute little city scape that I thought looked easy enough. I finished it in one evening but I have to admit, it took longer than I thought it would (it always does, right). At the end of the evening I had fabric and fusible paper snippings every where. My kids thought it was great and I plan to give it to my daughter as a little surprise. It measures about 8" x 8" I used Steam-A-Seam to fuse it and only used one letter sized sheet. I got so excited creating it that I forgot to sew it down as I went. So after I finished the picture I quilted some smaller important pieces down with invisible nylon thread and then put the binding edge on.

Another art quilt that I did, this one completely original, is of our local landscape. While taking a weekend drive on a particulary calm day I was struck by the stillness of the countless lakes and how glass smooth the reflections were. This is about the size of letter paper. My darling hubby said he wants this at his desk at work. I felt flattered.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Most quilters understand the typical addiction to color we fall victim to, but I also have a small place in my heart for black and white checkerboard floors. When I was a baby our kitchen floor was, believe it or not, black and white zebra stripes. Those colors have imprinted on my brain and baby synapses. Whenever I see a black and white floor my heart melts a little. This quilt a tribute to that part of me. Until I get my own black and white kitchen floor, I can get my rush via my newest quilt. Thankfully, this month I showed up to my local quilt guild meeting one week early. As dumb as I felt at the time, it gives me the time to finish this quilt's border so I can present it at Show and Tell in proper form. Well, the quilt will be in proper form but I will still be stumbling through with my broken Norwegian.

About Me

I started quilting in 2005 and never looked back. I'm an american living in Norway with three young kids (affectionately known as my little mess-makers), 2 cats, 1 dog and loving hubby. We have LONG winters that are perfect for spending time indoors making persnickety quilts.